Home Is Where You Are
by Ella Dean Pendragon
Summary: Alaric is heading 'home' for the week for a family event, he wishes Damon could come with him because he's only really home when he is with him. Total Fluff! Slash! Dalaric!
1. Chapter 1

**Home Is Where You Are**

**A/N – Hey gang! *waves frantically* nice to see y'all again! Thanks for reading my new fic! This is a Dalaric (Damon/Alaric) fanfiction from The Vampire Diaries. I was struck with this idea whilst stranded at a 21****st**** birthday party I didn't want to be at! Funny how you always get inspiration in places where you have no laptop access and would look anti social typing it on your phone. Anyway I raced home as soon as I could to write this up before it ran away! My fics, and certainly my Dalaric fics are almost always fluffy and everything because the amount of angst in this fandom drags me down so warning you now it is so sweet it might rot your teeth! Hope you enjoy!**

Alaric sighed as the hot water splashed all over his body, through his hair and over his closed eyes. He stills for a minuet and listens to the other people in the house; his still relatively new vampire hearing was pretty much a novelty to him. In the main room he could hear Stefan flipping through the pages of a book, tapping his fingers on the arm of the leather chair he must have been sat in. he listened further and heard Elena pottering round the kitchen, something was boiling in a pan and finally he heard Damon shuffling around in their room which was attached to the bathroom he was currently in, he heard the water dripping off Damon and hitting the floor at a quick rate as the much older Vampire had just gotten out of the shower, leaving him to get washed, what he had intended to do before his boyfriend had distracted him.

Alaric lent his head against the marble wall and thought of the coming week, today he was flying back home for the week, without Damon. It was his nephew and Godson's sixteenth birthday and he really didn't want to disappoint him, Caleb idolized his Uncle Ric and it had been nearly two years since he had seen him. He wanted Damon to come along, he wanted him to meet his brothers, sister, nieces and nephew's, also Ric wanted to see his family as much as possible before he had to stop when they noticed that he wasn't aging but he knew that his father would never accept that he was with Damon, Alaric didn't like to use the term gay, he hated labels but either way there was no way his seventy five year old father could not wrap his head around it so he was going alone, for an entire week, Alaric loved his family but there was only so much he could take without a distraction, for example Damon.

"Ric, you're gonna miss your flight if you don't leave soon." Damon said from the open door of the bathroom.

"Alright, getting out now, thanks De." He heard Damon move off towards the walk in closet at the other end of their room as he opened the sliding door and grabbed the towel from the rail close by, wrapping it tightly around his waist, checking his day light ring was still firmly on his left index finger as he did, purely out of habit, before he stepped into the warm rays cascading through the large window as he padded across the floor and into the bedroom, listening for Damon as he couldn't see him before figuring he was still debating what to wear that day, not that Alaric thought it made much difference as he practically wore the same thing everyday, he had compared Damon's wardrobe to that of the Scooby Doo gang on several occasions for which he had to be light on his feet to avoid the results, not that he did for long, their fights always turn into awesome sex which was always his aim. He found Damon practically crawling along the floor, his arm in the small gap between the floor and the wardrobe searching for something.

"Lost something Damon?" he asked, admiring the view of Damon's ass

"My sock, it's the only clean pair I have left. Ah ah! Got ya! He exclaimed as he rose to his feet, the rolled up pair of socks captured in his fist. Alaric smiled and shook his head as he passed his boyfriend and when to get things from his side of the closet and began to dress or tried to as he felt Damon's hands snake around his sides as he kissed the back of his neck, Alaric leaned back into the touch for a moment before a flurry of movement and he had Damon pressed up against the wall, licking and nipping at his pale throat,

"Flight… Ric…. Gonna ….miss it" Damon panted as he fought against groan forming in his throat,

"Don't care" was Alaric's mumbled response as the towel dropped from his waist.

Two hours later with barely five minuets before the check in closed Alaric was running through the airport as fast as was possible with drawing attention to himself, he made it to the desk with seconds to spare when the check in lady said she hoped he had a good reason for nearly missing the flight his only response was,

"Damon freaking Salvatore."


	2. Chapter 2

**Home Is Where You Are**

**A/N – Hey y'all! Second chapter here! Thanks for sticking with me and hope you are enjoying it! In this chapter we will meet Alaric's family! I am beyond rubbish with working out ages and stuff, I'm not even sure how old Ric is, oh well, have a read; let me know what you think at the end. Oh and Alaric and Damon and everything you recognise isn't mine but y'all knew that right?**

Alaric could have cheered when the planes wheels touched down, his now heightened sense of smell was a curse when trapped in a tin can with goodness knows how many people, BO was the worst offender of his nostrils along with the sickly sweet perfume of a girl sitting right at the back of the plane but that was pleasant compared to the smell coming from the pilot's socks. He also felt like his ears were going to fall off, from the drumming of the engine, to the air stewards gossiping about a work mate, the guy nine rows back grinding his teeth and the three woman in the row behind him whispering to each other how hot they thought he was and how that changed when, half way through the flight when they were allowed their phones on, he unlocked his smart phone to check his messages and they saw the wallpaper of him and Damon, the later kissing the other's cheek, Alaric had acted annoyed when Caroline sneaked the photo but got her to send him it later on.

When he got into the shade of the terminal he lifted his, well Damon's sunglasses from his face and nestled them in his hair before heading to the baggage claim, avoiding a group of tourists at the immigration post as he went. He found his bag and headed to the exit, he could hear and smell his family before he could see them, hear their voices, his sister in laws Texan drawl the most distinctive and he could smell the smoke on his brothers clothes despite the claim he had quit. As he rounded the final corner they all came into view, a chorus of 'Uncle Ric!' met his ears, he dropped his bag to scoop up the three kids that had come running towards him, Taylor and Tyler, the five year old twins and his four year old niece Annabel, he crushed them to his chest as he saw Caleb walk forward to pick the bag up off the floor and before instructing his younger brothers not to use Alaric as a climbing frame. Alaric put the boys down on the floor as the began to wiggle in his grasp and then sat Annabel on his hip before drawing Caleb into a one armed hug which the youngster returned with a,

"It's good to see you Uncle Ric!'

"It is good to see him, been way too long." Alice, his sister in law stated as she peeled her daughter off of him before pulling him down to her high to kiss his cheek. Alaric looked at each of his family that was present,

Alice, her Texan drawl had never lessened over the years, she was short, barely five foot, short black hair above hazel eyes, a warm and loving face helped along by her smile, in her arms was Annabel, the youngest of the kids, she was big for her age, she had inherited her father, his brother's height, she had her mothers eyes, Caleb was stood next to him, he was the spitting image of Alaric when he was sixteen but then the Vampire and his brother looked so alike they had been mistaken for twins at times despite the three year age difference between them, Caleb was shaking his head at Taylor and Tyler who were fighting over something, identical down to the last freckle and equally as mischievous, their blond hair was currently ruffled and their bright blue eyes were sparkling as their father was trying to get them to calm down. It was almost like looking in the mirror when Alaric looked at his older brother as Arthur made his way towards him,

"Ah little brother, long time no see." He stated before drawing the younger of them into a bear hug.

"Yeah, been way to long."

"We should be heading back to the house." Alice said as she led the way towards the glass door and the parking lot beyond, Alaric lowered the sunglasses back over his eyes as he stepped into the rays.

"So glad you could make it Uncle Ric." Caleb said as he walked along side his uncle and father.

"I wouldn't have missed it Ca." Alaric smiled at the youngster by his side, he knew he shouldn't but Alaric had always been closer to Caleb than any of the other kids, he thought for sometime that it was because he had only been twenty when he had been born so had been old enough to babysit but young enough that he didn't mind looking after him and wanted to be around for him as much as possible, he had only been thirteen when his oldest niece had been born and five years ago when the twins had been born was about the time when his wife went missing and was in no state to be looking after children.

By now they had reached the cars, Alice and Annabel took her car and everyone else poured into Arthur's, Caleb climbed into the back with his brothers after throwing Alaric's bag into the trunk, Arthur sat in the drivers seat and Alaric sat next to him, as his older brother pulled out of the car park and onto the main highway he informed him about the plans,

"Everyone is staying at the house, thank God mum insisted getting a place with so many rooms, may she rest in peace, we have come to get you, Sarah is driving from campus tonight, Alex should be getting home from work by the time we get back, Cassie too, Andrea text just before you landed, her and Ryan had just got there, so that's everyone."

Andrea was Alaric's sister and oldest sibling, Ryan was her husband and Sarah was their daughter. Alex was his brother, the oldest of the boys and Annabel's farther and Cassie was Arthur's wife. It was hard for Alaric to keep up with them all sometimes.

"The party for this one is this Friday" he said, jerking his thumb behind him towards Caleb who had his headphones in and was oblivious to what was being said as he sat between his brothers to stop them fighting.

"and they you fly out Sunday right?" Arthur asked, glancing at his brother before watching the road again.

"Yeah that's right, late flight, should land about midnight and be back in Mystic Falls around two."

"You gonna be alright getting home? I mean it's late, you didn't leave your car in long term parking right?"

"No, my… erm, friend is picking me up." Alaric managed to stop himself before the word boyfriend came out of his mouth. Arthur glanced over to him with a raised eyebrow,

"friend, huh?" he asked, obviously not convinced, Alaric thought that if the blood could rise in his face it would, it's not that he was ashamed of Damon, of course he wasn't and he was planning on telling them about him but he wanted to avoid spilling the beans while his two five year old nephews were sat behind him, he doubted they would really understand why their Uncle had a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend. Thankfully he was saved by the fore mentioned children as they started up an argument which distracted Arthur enough to let Alaric off for now.

Alaric sat at the kitchen table later that night, after dinner, Sarah, who had arrived about an hour before dinner with her red hair pulled into a loose pony tail was currently sprawled out on the floor in the sitting room, text books forming a constellation around her, sat on the sofa's around her were Allen, Alaric's father, the TV remote no doubt resting on the arm of the sofa, Alex and Alice were sat under the bay window, and Ryan was probed up on a chair borrowed from the kitchen, Annabel, Tyler and Taylor were sleeping upstairs, having passed out fairly quickly after dinner, Andrea had gone to read a book in bed and Cassie was in the shower, with so many people in one house and only two bathrooms you were lucky there was a time when it wasn't being used, Alaric wasn't sure where Caleb was as he sat having a beer with Arthur, talking about the old days. Arthur went to check on the boys just after ten so Alaric thought this was the perfect time to call Damon, he had only been away from him for fourteen hours and he missed him so he fished his phone from his jeans and hit the first speed dial; it was a few seconds until Damon answered.

"Ah there you are, thought you might have forgotten me." Damon said as Alaric could hear the sound of the mattress depressing under his boyfriends weight through the phone, he smiled to himself as he stood up and walked out onto the back porch and into the night air,

"How could anyone ever forget you?"

"Good question, it has never been done." Alaric could practically hear Damon's smirk and it made his heart ache more for him,

"I miss you." He told him, Damon would normally give some smart ass response but he could hear in his boyfriend's voice just how much he meant it,

"I miss you too Ric, it hasn't even been a day and I want you back."

"I know De, damn, I just wish my dad would get this, I wanna tell him, I wanna tell them all, hell I wanna tell everyone I meet!" Alaric couldn't believe he was saying all this, its not that Damon didn't know it, he did but they hardly ever voiced just how much they meant to each other, they said 'I love you' but anything else was to be savoured.

"I know, Ric, damn I miss you so much and I am so glad Stefan is out because I'd never live this down but God, I want you in my arms so bad."

"Maybe I should just tell him, Damon."

"I know you want to Ric but he is set in his ways, I hate to say it but he probably doesn't have long left and even if he does, it will only be a few years before they realise you aren't aging and you wont be able to see them, you don't want him to hate who you are for the last few years you have with him right?" Damon's smooth voice told him over the phone, the miles the distance.

"I hate it when you are right." Alaric told him and as he gazed at the ring on his index finger, it was practically the same as Damon's aside from where the D was on his there was an A in that place on Alaric's. He heard Damon laugh slightly,

"But you know I am." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Yes Damon I know you are right. Listen, I best go, Arthur will come looking for me in a minuet, I'll call you tomorrow okay?"

"No problem Ric, I best go to sleep, got a council meeting in the morning." Alaric was about to tell him it was only ten at night then it clicked about the time difference,

"Damn it, Damon, I'm sorry, I forgot about the time difference, it has to be nearly four am there, I know we don't need as much sleep as others do but still."

"Don't worry Ric, I couldn't sleep without talking to you anyway." Alaric couldn't help the grin that spread over his face at Damon's words.

"Alright, well get some sleep and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay, good night Ric, I love you."

"I love you too, Damon." Alaric said before hanging up the phone and gazing at the screen as it returned to the home screen, he couldn't take his eyes off Damon in the photo. He was about to go back inside when from behind him he heard a voice say,

"Who's Damon?" Spinning around Alaric found Caleb looking back at him.

**I am mean aren't I? Ahhh well you won't have to wait long for the next part I promise! Drop a review and let me know how you think it's going.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Home is Where You Are**

**A/N –Well y'all, we are onto the third chapter! Thanks again for sticking with this! For anyone worrying that we won't be seeing much of Damon, don't worry, Team Badass will be back together shortly! Oh and I have already mentioned Elena/Stefan in a pervious chapter and in this one I'm introducing my other two ships in the show, Jeremy/Tyler and Caroline/Matt, they are only mentioned in passing but thought I'd warn you! Thanks to those that have reviewed so far and added this story to their favourites/alerts, makes me want to write more! Right on with it then!**

'' "_I love you too, Damon." Alaric said before hanging up the phone and gazing at the screen as it returned to the home screen, he couldn't take his eyes off Damon in the photo. He was about to go back inside when from behind him he heard a voice say,_

"_Who's Damon?" Spinning around Alaric found Caleb looking back at him. ''_

Alaric looked at his nephew who was little more than a silhouette against the bright light spilling out of the screen door behind him. How had he not heard him? He thought to himself but he figured it might have been because he was distracted by the photo on the phone that he was still turning over in his hand, he was thinking fast, trying to find a way out of it but he thought to himself 'I gotta start somewhere.' He walked to sit on the porch swing, beckoning Caleb to follow him, the young man sat beside him and waited for his uncle to speak. Alaric looked down at him and experienced the familiar feeling of thinking he was looking twenty years into the past, he sighed, looked out over the expansive fields that seemed to run on forever behind the house,

"Damon, well he is, he's my boyfriend." It felt good to say it out loud, Alaric glanced back down to observe his nephews reaction, in the hazel eyes that mirrored his own he saw surprise and a kind of admiration,

"Oh right, erm well that's kind of a shock but to be honest Uncle Ric I'm glad." That was one of the last things that Alaric had expected to hear, which obviously came across in the look in his face, a smirk worked its was onto Caleb's face and it was so much like the one Damon often sported that stopped Alaric in his tracks for a second.

"Really, Uncle Ric? You didn't think I would have noticed how different you are? Its little things really but mainly you smile a heck of a lot more now I knew that there had to be someone, I didn't know it was a guy but that doesn't matter." Alaric didn't know how to describe what he felt about Caleb right now other than proud, the kid was a lot more tuned in and mature than anyone else his age Alaric had met, his face shone as he threw an arm around the shorter ones shoulders and pulled him to his side.

They sat there for a while; Caleb was interested in the guy that had instilled such a positive change in his favourite Uncle, he asked about Damon, what he was like, how they had got together and Alaric showed him a few photos of his family back in Mystic Falls. One of Damon and Stefan at the grill, Elena and Stefan in the back seat of Damon's car, which Alaric took from the passenger seat on the rare occasion that the four of them where in there together, the next photo was of Jeremy and Tyler, the pair of them had been painting the fence in the garden and it had turn into a paint war, in the end Tyler had wrapped his arms around Jeremy's waist and that was when Elena had snapped the shot and sent it to Ric later, he also showed him a photo of Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, Matt and Caroline, all with their arms around each other, out in the woods somewhere, Matt leaning to place a kiss on Caroline's cheek. They sat there until Arthur stuck his head out of the door, looking for them both,

"Ah they y'all are! Its half eleven Ca, best start heading up to bed."

"Sure thing Dad, be up in a second." Caleb replied before Arthur retreated into the house, Caleb looked back at his Uncle,

"See ya tomorrow Uncle Ric and don't worry, I'm not gonna say anything about Damon." Alaric hoped the smile on his face, look in his eyes and his 'goodnight kid' explained just how grateful he was.

Most of the week went by without event, it was a hazy of catching up with people, sorting out the fine details of Caleb's party, stopping the twins from killing each other and Alaric was enjoying the time he was spending with Caleb but none of that was doing anything to distract him from how much he was missing Damon, he spoke to him at least once a day, more often than that normally, it was late Wednesday afternoon when Alaric stepped back out on to the porch, the same place he told Caleb about Damon three nights before, the sun was sinking fast as he sat on the first wooden step that lead down into the garden, hitting the first speed dial as he did, placing the phone to his ear and waiting for it to be answered, it kind of surprised him when Stefan's voice spoke down the line,

"Hey Ric, how are you?" Without even waiting for a reply he pressed on,

"When you coming home? Damon is unbearable, moping about all the time, snapping at everyone, not even a vile of AB negative is helping!" Stefan said down the phone but it was clear from his tone and volume he was talking to Damon,

"Give me the damn phone Stefan!" Damon could be heard catching up with his brother, Alaric smiled, he loved the way the brothers were with each other, it gave him comfort that if anything were to happen to him that Damon would have Stefan to drag him through it even thought Damon had always said that if anything were to happen to him then he wouldn't be far behind.

"Hey Ric, sorry about that annoying git!" Damon said, the last word raised in volume, Alaric could hear Stefan laughing as he walked away.

"How's everything going down there? Missing me still?" Damon asked as he lent against the window sill, resting his back against the glass as he stared across the room where Alaric had left a few of his book, the pang of feelings he got was enough that he missed what Alaric had said,

"Sorry Ric, I missed that."

"I said, of course I'm missing you, no where near as fun compelling my way into hospital blood banks without you." Damon couldn't help but grin at that, thinking about how nervous Alaric had been the first time he compelled someone.

"Ah well not long till you come home, which is good because I can not control the hormonal youth of Mystic Falls." Alaric let out a bark of laughter before Damon continued,

"I'm serious Ric, Elena and Stefan are more loved up than ever, Jeremy and Tyler have had about three fights in two days but made up in record time and don't even get me started on Caroline, I don't know how Matt puts up with her." Alaric was defiantly missing the madness that was home and he couldn't wait to get back.

"I can't wait to get home, I miss you all and yes, before you ask I miss you most, also when I get home my entire family won't be trying to set me up with every female in the phonebook." It was true, all of his family had been suggesting people he might like, much to Caleb's amusement, so far his excuses of 'I don't even live here anymore, why would I date someone from here.' And 'I have too much on, what with Elena, Jeremy, school and keeping other people in line'

"Yeah well they can think again, no one is getting there paws on you, you, my friend are mine."

"Oh Damon I do like it when you get all jealous and possessive" Alaric said, the smirk on his face full blown.

"Screw you Ric." Damon replied, trying to sound pissed off but failing miserably.

"Few more days and you can do just that." Alaric told him, knowing exactly what it would do to his boyfriend; this is was probably the longest they had gone without sleeping together since they got together.

"You really are a git Alaric Saltzman!"

"I know, but you love me!"

"That I do." There was a comfortable silence between them for a few seconds after Damon's words until the older Vampire said,

"I best go Ric, said I'd meet Jeremy and Tyler and the Grill with Stefan and if the look I'm getting right now from baby brother is anything to go by I better get a move on." Damon told him, catching Stefan stood by the door.

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow De, love you."

"Love you too, Ric." Alaric slid the phone down till it was locked then hauled himself up and proceed to walk back into the house to find, his sister and niece serving up dinner.

"Just in time Uncle Ric, pull up a pew." Sarah said to him as she brushed a strand of red hair out of her eyes and pulled it behind her ear. Alaric did just that, sitting between Arthur and Alex and opposite Caleb. They were well into the dinner when the topic of conversation again turned to Alaric's relationship status, Alaric was stressed to hell after about ten minutes, and he had a grip on the side of the table and was trying hard not to turn into dust.

"Look Ric, we just want you to be happy." Alex told him as he stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth; Caleb tried to help his Uncle out,

"May be he is happy being on his own for a while." The youngster said but was practically ignored, next in line to fire something at him was Andrea from about two seats down; she leaned forward to see him across Arthur.

"Stay out of the game too long Ric and you won't get back into it." She said in between mouthfuls of pasta. Alaric had reached his boiling point and as if he knew he needed the courage to do it he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, digging it out and opening the message he saw it was from Damon,

'_Miss you, love you. De x' _

Even though his father was sitting at the top of the table Alaric had somehow decided it was a small price to pay for his family knowing that he was perfectly happy, that he had a fantastic life back home and it was all pretty much down to one man, well Vampire but he defiantly wasn't getting into that. Caleb could sense what was coming before it happened,

"Uncle Ric, are you sure you wanna…." Alaric looked at the kid and simply nodded, everyone was quite, looking between the two of them,

"What does Caleb know that the rest of us don't?" Sarah asked, Alaric took this as his chance,

"What he knows is that I don't need anyone because I already have someone and I am the happiest that I have ever been and it is all down to them, I have a life and a family back home and one person is the centre of it all."

"Well if that's the case then why didn't you say anything? What's her name?" Alex asked, looking long the row at his little brother. Alaric took a deep breath, even though technically he didn't have to, it was more for calming purposes."

"His name is Damon." If the situation wasn't as serious as it was then the looks on his families faces and seeing the colour drain from their faces would have been comical. They all still seemed to be processing the news when Allen, Alaric's father, dropped his fork to his plate, stood up and walked out of the kitchen without so much as a glance at his youngest child. Alaric closed his eyes for a second before getting up and leaving for the back porch a little faster than he maybe should have, had he waited a few more seconds he would have been able to answer his phone as it started to ring and Damon's name appeared on the display screen, the task of answering it fell to Caleb.

**A/N – Well there we are folks, chapter three up and running, let me know what you all think of how the story is going, I do have some ideas of how I think I want this to go but if you have suggestions please let me know, I'll see if I can work them in. Damon fans – don't worry, he is coming to the recuse – well he is going to be physically in the next chapter more which should be up either tomorrow or the day after, don't worry I wont leave you hanging for long.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Home Is Where You Are**

**A/N – Hey people! Well onto chapter four! I can't believe how many of you are liking this story, it makes me feel so good, mainly because, I don't know if any of you can tell from the story but I'm dyslexic and to know people are enjoying my writing is better than chocolate and trust me, I like chocolate! I probably should be writing my essay for university right now but Dalaric is just more fun, maybe I should be doing creative writing instead of psychology? Nah, I'm not that good, any way, please enjoy this chapter and let me know what y'all think! A lot of people have commented on how they like how this is about our boys dealing with everyday problems rather than the Vampire problems they have on the show, I'm glad people like this version of the boys because I would be useless at writing all that angst so they might come across OOC sometimes but roll with it, anyway I have rambled your ears off, enjoy…**

"_Alaric's father dropped his fork to his plate, stood up and walked out of the kitchen without so much as a glance at his youngest child. Alaric closed his eyes for a second before getting up and leaving for the back porch a little faster than he maybe should have, had he waited a few more seconds he would have been able to answer his phone as it started to ring and Damon's name appeared on the display screen, the task of answering it fell to Caleb." _

Damon lent against the wall of the Grill, staring up into the night sky as he waited for Alaric to answer his phone, it took longer than normal for the call to be answered but the he thought nothing of it until an unfamiliar voice came over the line.

"Damon?" the vampire felt his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"Yes, who's this? Where's Ric?" Damon could feel the panic start to rise in his chest, Alaric never let anyone answer his phone, it was always in his pocket or his hand and even when he was asleep is was right next to his head on the night stand.

"It's Caleb, Ric's nephew I don't know if mentioned me…"

"Yeah he did." Damon told him while recalling all that his boyfriend had told him about the kid.

"Where is he?" Damon asked as he heard Caleb climbing stairs and then shutting a door.

"Sorry, I thought giving what's just happened it would be better to talk away from everything." Caleb said making the panic Damon was feeling triple.

"Caleb, tell me what happened and where he is." Caleb went through everything from start to finish, ending up with Alaric storming outside.

"Damn it!" Damon cursed as he ran a hand down his face.

"He wouldn't handle this very well Caleb, he will put up this wall, pretend he is okay and carry on but it will eat him up inside till the point were it will explode, doing more damage." Damon thought he would feel bad telling the kid how someone he is close to will handle something but truth is that he didn't because he knew Alaric better than anyone ever had or would.

"What am I meant to do?" Caleb asked.

"Keep him away from everyone till I get there, not that it should be too difficult, he won't want to be in close quarters with anyone while he is feeling like this." As Damon said it Caleb could here the door to the room next to his, Alaric's room, bang open and then the door to the cupboard slam against the adjoining wall.

"Wait, you are coming here?" Caleb asked, completely taken by surprise.

"Yes I am, trust me kid, you don't want to be in the middle of this, between two sides of your family, besides someone is gonna have to pull him outta this, he'll be mad at everything and everyone around him for a while then he will start blaming himself, trust me, I know him better than I know myself." Caleb was so glad he wasn't going to have to deal with this alone, it was nice to have support because he didn't care what the rest of his family thought, he was on his Uncle Ric's side.

After giving Damon all the information he needed about the airport, how to get around the city and promising he wouldn't tell Alaric that he was coming down Caleb went to find his Uncle, Alaric was throwing stuff into his hold all when Caleb stuck his head around the door, he thought he must be extremely mad because he was moving around so fast Caleb could barely his eyes on him.

"Uncle Ric?" Alaric stopped in his track and turned to the door,

"Ca, come in." as he did the youngster handed over the cell phone that he had just gotten Damon's number from and entered it into his own phone.

"Thanks kid." Alaric thanked him, pushing the phone into the front pocket of his jeans and zipped up the bag that was on the bed,

"Where are you going? Not home?" Caleb asked, looking between his Uncle and the bed. Alaric shook his head,

"No, I'm gonna check into the hotel in town, I can't stay here, not that Dad would let me anyway, but I am not gonna miss you turning sixteen." Caleb grinned, even in his darkest place his Uncle still cared more about him.

"Okay, I'll give you a lift, just got my licence last month." Caleb told him. Alaric beamed and grabbed the bag and followed the kid out the room and to the car.

Back in Mystic Falls Damon charged through the door so hard Stefan was surprised it didn't swing of its hinges as he turned around from the shot he was about to take on the pool table, they were currently whipping Jeremy and Tyler at the game. Seeing the look on his big brother's face he knew something had happened. Damon grabbed his arm and dragged him to a corner, leaving Jeremy and Tyler looking perplexed. Damon filled him in on everything and Stefan understood exactly why he was flying all the way down there, had this been anyone else it wouldn't have provoked this kind of reaction but Alaric was different and Stefan would never dream of trying to stop his brother doing what he was going to do anyway. After asking him to keep an eye on Jeremy like Alaric had asked him Damon took off through the crowd and out into the night air leaving Stefan to explain to the other two what was happening.

On the drive up to the house to get his stuff Damon was on the phone to the airline with the earliest flight out, which he discovered after a quick internet search on his smart phone, maybe not the best thing to do whilst driving in anger but this was Damon Salvatore. As he swung the door shut behind him and raced up to their room he knew he had three hours to get to the gate, the airport was two hours away, add the time it would take to get his stuff, check in and make it through security he would be pushing it, he knew compelling people was in his near future. As he fished out his passport he got a text on his cell, it read

_Hey, Ric has checked into the Sun Rise hotel on Castle Street, room 116. Caleb._

After sending a thanks to Caleb he glanced around their room for anything he had missed, he couldn't see anything so he left, stormed downstairs and back outside and to his car, throwing the bag into the passenger seat as he started the engine and drove in the direction of the airport.

Three hours later, as he made his way to his seat the flight attendant closed the door, he had made it with seconds to spare and that was after compelling about three people along the way, he thought it was going to go up to four at the check in desk when the guy behind it was looking at his passport, he had only had the damn thing about six years but it was already getting harder to use, the birth date on in would but him at thirty one and he sure didn't look that old, only being twenty three when he became a vampire, he had gotten the date on it that would have made him twenty five when he first got it as he was slightly paranoid he didn't look twenty three but he didn't think about trying to use it years late, he was going to have to get another one soon, if the vampire he and Stefan used to get their documents was still around, he was always getting into fights and Damon would surprised if he hadn't been staked yet, but he hoped not, his work was nothing but perfect, it had never gotten flagged anywhere, Damon figured he'd wait until Alaric had to get a new one, he was still using his real one at the minute, he had gotten it when he was thirty and was still only in his mid thirty's.

As the plane became airborne Damon tried to relax, he had a few hours before he could do anything to help Alaric he told himself but it didn't help much. When they were allowed their cell phones and other electronic devices back on Damon turned on his cell and checked his messages, nothing from Caleb so he figured everything there was still at a stalemate. As he backed out of his inbox and back to the home screen he started at the wallpaper for a while, it was of him and Alaric, his boyfriend was stood behind him with his hands resting on Damon's hips, his chin in the dip between Damon's shoulder and neck as the older vampire leaned his head against Alaric's, Elena had decided that no one took enough photo's so she decided to take on the role herself, she had photos of everyone with everyone else and she had sent a few of them around, this one was his favourite of the two of them. After a while he placed the phone back in the pocket of his leather jacket and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back, wishing the time away.

A few hours later the plane touched down just as the sun was starting to rise, blinding him for a second as he stepped off the plane, ''Damn Ric for stealing my sunglasses'' he thought to himself with a smile on his face. He made it through the terminal in record time and got in a cab just outside the sliding doors and gave the name of the hotel Caleb had send him. About twenty minuets later he was walking though the doors and into the lobby of the hotel, their was hardly anyone around but giving the fact it was only about seven in the morning it was to be expect, only a few sleepy looking business men and women were milling around, cups of coffee grasped in their hands. Damon glanced around and saw a sign that told him room 116 was on the second floor so he walked over to the elevator as he adjusted the strap of his bag which he had slung over his shoulder, once inside he pressed the correct button for the floor he was looking for and waited as the shiny doors closed.

Even before he doors had opened to allow him out his hearing picked up the sound of Alaric storming around his room, he knew it was Alaric because he knew his footsteps well and to him they sounded different to every other set he could hear from the few people that were awake at this time. Hoping that the other vampire was distracted enough to not hear him approaching he made his way down the plain corridor to 116 and knocked twice on the door and waited. It took about ten seconds for it to open but when it did the look on Alaric's face was comical but Damon managed to suppress his grin, probably not what his boyfriend needed right now.

"Damon?"

"The one and only. Hey Ric." Alaric took a second to make sure that Damon was actually there and that his wishing he was wasn't making him see things before he drew him into his arms. Damon closed his eyes as he hugged Alaric back; he needed this as much as Alaric did. Once they let go and were both in the room and the door closed behind them Alaric asked,

"How the heck did you know what had happened? I was just about to call you and how did you know where I was?"

"I knew what had happened because of your very nice nephew, who is also how I knew where you were." It took a second for the penny to drop then,

"My cell." Damon nodded in conformation.

"Yeah I called and he answered, told me everything then text me where you were staying." Damon told him as he took one of Alaric's hands in his own, leading him to the bed, they sat down and Alaric said,

"and you told him not to tell me you were coming down here?"

"Yeah, I knew you'd try to talk me out of it when you need me most."

"I do need you." Alaric told him in little more than a whisper before closing the gap between them, catching Damon's lips with his own in a warm and needing kiss, he needed to know that Damon was really there because he knew he had probably lost a good number of his family and he couldn't bare to lose the one person in the world that mattered most to him. Damon knew everything his boyfriend must be feeling and he knew he needed reassurance so he let Alaric lead the kiss rather than fighting for control as he normally would. They had both missed the closeness, being able to touch each other so they took full advantage of being together again, Alaric used his weight to press Damon down onto the sheets, never breaking the kiss as one of Damon's hands went to rest on Alaric's hip, the other wound up at the base of his neck, twisting the strands of dirty blond in his long fingers. Both of them cursed as a cell phone started to ring, both of them went to the pocket their cells were in out of habit but they both knew it was Alaric's because of the ring tone, some soft country song.

"Caleb." Alaric answered the unasked question. He pressed the answer button and placed it to his ear.

"Ca?" Alaric listen to his nephew, his expression unreadable even to Damon.

"Okay, thanks kid." Alaric hung up and looked at Damon who had not been listening to the conversation; he hated listening in on other peoples phone calls so it was second nature to him now.

"What did he say?"

"I guess he told them you were coming down because my dad wants to see us both at the house."

**A/N – Well? How did we all like that? Do I still have readers? Hope so! Let me know what you think of this chapter and the rest of the story if you haven't already! The next chapter shouldn't be too far away, I will most likely write it tomorrow night, if not it will be Sunday because Saturday I'm driving back to University.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Home is Where You Are**

**A/N – Hey! Nice to see you again! Thank you so much for sticking with this story, it means so much to me! I am so pleased I keep seeing the same names come up in the reviews and I would love to see new ones! I'd like to dedicate this chapter to GaelicAngel – she is such a lovely person and likes this story, also she isn't so well at the moment so I hope this helps her on the way to recovery. New chapter now, read, review and enjoy.**

"_I guess he told them you were coming down because my dad wants to see us both at the house."_

The cab ride up to the Saltzman house was tense, Damon could feel how nervous Alaric was, it seemed to be radiating off him. Damon slid his hand into his boyfriends just as they were pulling up to the sidewalk, he gave it a quick squeeze and shot him a reassuring smile before letting go to climb out the car, Alaric paid the fare then followed suit, when the cab drove off both of them stood at the beginning of the drive way looking up at the imposing house.

"Come on then, sooner we get this done the sooner he can disown me and we can get back to Mystic Falls." His face was set like stone, resigned to the fact that his family wouldn't want anything to do with him. He began to walk but Damon caught his arm, forcing him to look at him,

"Ric, whatever happens, whatever he says, this is not your fault, I won't let you blame yourself for this." Alaric's eyes shifted from Damon's face to look at his shoes, a sign that he was starting to blame himself for this,

"It's not your fault this happened." He said, waving a hand between them to indicate exactly what he meant.

"It's not your fault we fell in love with each other, it's not your fault that for the first time in years you are truly happy and it certainly is not your fault if your father has a small mind and can't accept what we have." A small smile worked its way onto Alaric's face, showing that even if was only a tiny but, Damon's words were getting through to him.

They walked up to the door, Alaric tried the handle and found it was unlocked so proceeded to open it and walk through, he was half way down the hall way when he heard Damon from behind him,

"Ric!" he turned to see his boyfriend still stood outside, his a hand on either side of the door frame then it hit him, Damon wouldn't be able to come in unless he was invited,

"Damn! My dad was waiting for me when I got here last time." When Alaric had gotten back the previous Sunday his father was waiting at the door for him and told him to come on in when he reached him. Since Alaric or any of his siblings no longer lived here the only person that could invite Damon in was his father.

"The only person that can let you in is my father." Alaric said as he was about to look for his dad until he heard Allen's voice from behind him,

"Only right, seeing as it is my house." Allen glanced at Damon and then said,

"Come on in, can't have a conversation with you stood outside." Damon took a step over the threshold, making sure that he could actually step inside without seemingly suffocating, when he found he could he stepped fully inside and closed the door behind him then joined Alaric to face his father.

Allen Saltzman had obviously passed down a lot of his physical traits to his youngest child, they were about the same height, just over six foot and he had the same shade of dirty blond hair, although a great potion of it was now grey, they even had the same colour eyes, a deep hazel but Alaric's seemed softer somehow, they were more rounded in shape. Allen led them further down the hall and through a door and into the kitchen, he motioned for them to sit at the table, which they did, Alaric sat on the chair nearest the head of the table, knowing his father would sit there, that way there was a seat between him and Damon, irrationally he thought his might protect his boyfriend from anything his father might say. Allen headed towards the coffee machine,

"Can I get you anything?" he asked over his shoulder, Damon, his usual self joked,

"A shot of bourbon would do nicely just about now." Allen chuckled at that and offed them a small smile which seemed to lessen the tension in the air.

Five minutes later they were all sat at the table with mugs of coffee, sadly there was lack of bourbon since Alaric had been home,

"Alaric, I want to apologize for last night, it was a shock, you have to understand but son, I have never seen you this happy, ever and if he is the reason for that then I have no objections." This was the last thing that Alaric had been expecting to hear from his father and that was obvious given the look on his face and it had rendered him speechless, so with a smile on his face Allen pressed on,

"So, aren't you gonna introduce me to your boyfriend?" this seemed to shake Alaric out of the shocked state he was in, shaking his head slightly,

"Erm yeah, Damon this is my father Allen Saltzman, dad this is Damon, my boyfriend."

Allen stretched a hand across towards Damon which the vampire took, and fully introduced himself,

"Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore? That's an old name." Allen commented as they let go of each other's hands,

"It's an old family."

"You got any present day family?" Allen asked, taking a sip of coffee, sitting back in his chair, interested in the man that seemed to have made such a big difference in his son.

"Yeah a younger brother, Stefan…." Damon went on to talk about his brother and everyone back home that felt like family.

Before they knew it the three of them had been talking for well over two hours, Damon and Allen were getting on like a house on fire and Alaric couldn't believe it though he was extremely happy, it seemed like the time apart last night had given his father time to think, it was just the rest of his family he had to deal with and thankfully they didn't all arrive at once. The first people to make it back were Arthur, Cassie, Caleb and the twins, Cassie took the twins upstairs to get changed while Arthur and Caleb stayed in the kitchen. Alaric introduced them both to Damon.

Damon was sort of feeling like a fish out of water, he had never head to do all of this before but it was made easier by the fact that Alaric's family seemed to like him, after talking for a while Arthur had said that even though it would take a while for him to get used to the idea, after Caleb had explained everything to him, why this was so important for his brother, he was able to accept it and when Alaric wasn't looking he turned to Damon and said in a lowered voice

"You hurt him and I'll hunt you down, that's my little brother, you hear?" Damon just nodded his head and didn't mention that he would be able to rip him to shreds before he knew what was happening. Caleb was the one that Damon was most looking forward to meeting, the spitting image of what the vampire assumed his boyfriend looked like at that age, he even had the same smile and it seemed like the kid had already decided that he liked Damon, the vampire thanked him for all the help when Cassie came down the stairs to meet the new comer too, all of them were extremely welcoming now that they had the time to adjust. The theme continued when Andrea, Ryan and Sarah arrived back from the store, Andrea and Ryan politely introduced themselves and Sarah, not quietly, turned to her Uncle after meeting him and said,

"I see why you turned for him!" Everyone in the kitchen creased up laughing as Sarah beamed. They were still coming down from their high when Alex walked into the kitchen through the back door, coming in from the garage,

"What's everyone laughing at?" he asked, wiping oil from his hands. Then his eyes fell on his little brother and the stranger at the table, he glanced to his father and back to the pair, everyone felt the atmosphere shift,

"What the hell are _they_ doing here?" he practically spat out, his eyes full of hate.

**A/N - well people, what do we think? Did anyone expect it to be the brother that would have the problem? I know it was a short chapter today and may be not as good as it could have been up I am starting to get a migraine so I thought best to end it there and not when y'all were losing the will to live. There is only a couple chapters left on this story but I am already planning a sequel! Next upload should be tomorrow.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Home is Where You Are**

**A/N – Hello! Glad to see y'all again! Love that you are sticking with the story! This chapter we are going to see both Damon and Alaric jumping to each others defence, now I don't know if y'all wanted to see this but I sure do and well, it is my story so it is happening! Read on and let me know what you all think.**

All the occupants of the kitchen glanced around at each other, Alex still had his sights set on the pair of them,

"Look, Alex…." Alaric started as he got up from his seat to approach his brother but Alex moved side ways out of his path,

"Don't you even come anywhere near me, either of you!" he added the last part after looking back at Damon who had also risen out of his chair to stand behind his boyfriend,

"What you two are doing, what you are is unnatural." Damon couldn't help but smirk at that, if only Alex knew the depth of that sentence, vampires weren't exactly the most pure of nature's creations. In a split second Alaric's features went from neutral to pissed off,

"Alex, you are my brother and I love you but you have no idea how wrong you are!"

"Wrong? I am not the one that is wrong here, it's you two, it's disgusting!" Damon had heard enough, no one was going to tell him what he and Alaric had wasn't natural, it was the first time in his expansive life that he knew what he was feeling was true, it was like it anchored him to the ground, he would have lost it long time ago if it hadn't been for the other vampire he would be a shell of the person he was now and it was about time that Alex heard this, stepping forward so he was level with Alaric, providing a united front,

"Look, Alex I know this is a shock for you but you have to understand what me and Ric have is love and there is nothing more natural than that, without your brother I wouldn't be here, he saved me in every way possible and I owe him my life."

"No! I don't have to understand anything either of you say! How can you stand there with him, in your childhood home and expect us to accept it?" Alex screamed at his brother.

"Look, Alex, you are my family but do not ask my to chose between you and him because you will not like the answer!" there was a few seconds silence after that statement, Alaric and Alex just tried to stare each other down before Caleb spoke up,

"Uncle Alex, it makes no difference what you think because everyone in this room has accepted it and if you don't that's your choice but don't expect to be invited tomorrow night." And with that the teenager proceeded to walk out into the hall and they could hear him stomp upstairs.

"Wait, you ALL are okay with this?" Alex asked the rest of the people in the kitchen, gesturing at the vampires with a wild arm movement.

"Come and join us the 21st century Alex." Andrea stated before getting up to leave but not before she shook her head slightly at her brother in a disappointed way.

"Alex I will not have you in this house if you can not be civil to your own brother, he is human" Alaric and Damon just about managed to contain their smirks at that,

"he hasn't done anything to hurt anyone, all he did was fall in love, what he and Damon have is nothing different from what you and Alice have." Allen told him. Alex just shook his head and stormed out of the kitchen.

Within the next half an hour Alex had himself, Alice and Annabel packed up in the car and on route to the hotel in town, which Alaric and Damon had just come back from picking Alaric's stuff up after Allen had told them that they were staying at home tonight.

Alaric was upset that his brother refused to accept himself and Damon but he held out hope that he might in future. He was so relived that the rest of his family were the opposite and he found himself wondering what he was so worried about because as they were all sat around the dinner table that night, he and Damon eating a minimum amount to keep up appearances, he looked around his whole family and it was as if nothing had happened apart from the absence of Alex and his family. He glanced to his left and found that Damon and Caleb were in a deep conversation and it made him smile so hard.

Later that night as the sun finally went down behind the horizon Damon walked out of the back door to find Alaric sat on the first step that led into the garden, he sighed and sat next to him,

"Hey." He said as he moved up close to him so that their thighs and shoulder were touching. Alaric smiled back at him,

"Hey, thanks for today De, I don't think I could have done alone."

"It's what I'm here for." He replied, taking his boyfriends hand in his own as they turned to look at each others eyes, Damon's electric blue eyes seemed to admit their own light and not for the first time Alaric felt like he was been held a willing prisoner of them and again not for the first time he wondered what he would do without Damon in his life. His eyes flicked from the eyes down to his boyfriends full lips and couldn't help but lean in to capture then with his own, capturing the bottom lip between his own, and waited for Damon to return the kiss and kissed a little harder when he did, seeking entrance by running his tongue along Damon's lips, without hesitation the other vampire allowed him. The kiss was getting more heated as it went on and their hands were all over each other when they heard someone walking thought the kitchen and just managed to untangle themselves before Sarah's head popped through the door,

"Hey guys, we are about to put a DVD in if y'all wanna join?" she waited for their reply and then went back into the kitchen to get the snacks as the two of them pulled themselves up and walked back into the house and stole a place on one of the sofa's before everyone came down and took up the space.

Two hours later once the titles were rolling on the screen everyone began to move and make their way to where ever they were going, Alaric and Damon excused themselves and headed to bed, it had been a long day and they were getting up early, it had been a few days since either of them had had a drink of either kind but the need for blood was more pressing so they had decided to compel their way into the blood bank at the hospital before anyone else had woken up.

When they eventually crawled into bed and Alaric leaned over to turn out the light on the night stand, after which Damon laid his head on his boyfriends chest, they were both extremely tired, which was unusual for the vampires, they talked for a while before falling into a peaceful slumber.


	7. Chapter 7

**Home Is Where You Are**

**A/N – Hey y'all! For once I didn't leave the last chapter on a cliff hanger! Thanks for joining me on this ride, this is the last chapter of this story but do not panic I have a sequel planned and a request about how our boys fell in love, they will start in about a week as between now and then I have a essay and exam to do for university so I wanted to finish this for y'all before I get swept up in the craziness of life. Read on…..**

''_When they eventually crawled into bed and Alaric leaned over to turn out the light on the night stand, after which Damon laid his head on his boyfriends chest, they were both extremely tired, which was unusual for the vampires, they talked for a while before falling into a peaceful slumber.''___

Alaric blinked a few times as he woke up, took a moment to remember everything that had happened over the last few days and smiled, a smile that only magnified when he looked down to find Damon still fast asleep on his chest, his jet black hair a stark contrast against his pale and cool skin, his lean arm thrown protectively over Alaric's abdomen. Using the arm that was snaked around his boyfriends shoulder Alaric traced light patterns with his fingernails on Damon's naked shoulder. After awhile the older vampire began to stir, his dark eyelashes flittering open as he came back into the conscious world, craning his neck upwards he stretched to place a kiss on the blonde's lips.

"Morning." He muttered before collapsing back onto Alaric's toned chest.

"Morning to you too." He replied glancing over to the alarm clock on the side table, if they wanted to get to the hospital, compel their way in and get back before anyone missed them they would have to move soon as much as he didn't want to and apparently neither did Damon as he told Alaric over and over as the other vampire practically dragged him out of bed and pushed him into the shower, Damon didn't sleep much but when he did it was incredibly difficult to get him to wake up, he was worse than Jeremy but at least he had the excuse of being a teenager.

Within the next two hours they managed to get to the hospital and compel their way past two security guards, one of which took his job very seriously, the other just looked like he had given up on the day before it had even began, they got a fair share of blood bags, taking a number of them with them in the cooler they found in the room, they made it back to the house, upstairs and hid the cooler under the bed before anyone asked where they were.

The day was amazing in terms of the weather, the sun was bouncing down on every surface and there wasn't a cloud in the sky so lunch was a barbeque on the back porch as the kids played in the garden and the adults had a few drinks in the shade. They stayed there until the sun was setting and they had to go get dressed in time for Caleb's party that evening.

Up in their room, Ric's old childhood bedroom Damon was observing all the old photos that adorned the walls or took place on the surfaces in their silver frames. A fair number of them were of Alaric and Arthur, they looked near identical in some of them, so much so that Damon had trouble picking out which of them was his boyfriend but with close inspection it was the eyes that gave him away, even then the were soft and kind. He was looking at one of Alaric holding a baby Caleb when present day Alaric walked up behind him having just came in from the shower, placing his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder he asked,

"What you looking at?"

"You with even worse fashion sense than you have now."

"Hey it was the 90's and I think that hair style was a hangover from the 80's."

"Good God I remember the 80's, the decade fashion forgot."

"You, Damon Salvatore without a dress sense, now that I would pay to see." He told him before moving away to get dressed. Turning away from the photo to see his boyfriend sit down on the edge of bed to pull his socks on Damon said,

"If I had gone around looking as hot as I always do people would have known something was wrong."

"If you say so De."

"Never gonna convince you am I?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so." He told him with a smile that was mirrored on Alaric's face.

They got dressed in a comfortable silence, Alaric was too distracted with trying to tame his hair he didn't notice what Damon was wearing until they were ready to go and join the rest of the family downstairs.

"Wow" Alaric couldn't help but let that pass his lips at the sight of the other vampire. Damon had differed from his normal all black dress code. He was wearing dark blue jeans, from which black leather dress shoes peeked, he was wearing a shirt the same shad of blue as his eyes and that was covered with a black blazer.

"Seeing something you like?" he asked, smirk back in place.

"Hell yeah! My God, I can not wait till we get back home and I can do whatever I want to you." Alaric replied, hands on Damon's hips, pulling him closer.

"As much as I can't wait for that part, Ric we are already home." Alaric looked puzzled so Damon continued.

"Ric, I wouldn't fly half way across the country for anyone, I did it because I love you and you needed me, you needed home and so did I, home is where you are." Alaric didn't have a verbal response to that, his emotions seemed to be gagging him so instead he closed the gap between them, trapping Damon's lips in a searing kiss.

They stayed there, content with each other until there was a shout from downstairs that everyone was ready to leave, walking down the stairs hand in hand they joined everyone waiting in the hall. Cassie seemed close to a nervous breakdown,

"Ric, Damon you two will have to take the cake in Arthur's car." She told them as she pushed a cake box into Damon's arms and keys into Alaric's hand, not wanting to get in her way more than they had to because quite frankly she scared the two vampires at the moment they quickly headed out of the house and into Arthur's BMW, the same car that had picked Alaric from the airport the previous Sunday.

They made it to the golf club where the party was being held within about half an hour. Walking through the doors they saw that people had already started arriving, seeing them walk in Andrea walked over to them and relived Damon of the cake box, heading to the kitchen to set it down, seeing Arthur stood next to the DJ box they headed towards him.

"And how in the hell did you and Andrea escape the war path of your wife?" Alaric questioned,

"Sorry about leaving you with that but I know how Cassie gets when organizing something."

"Bit of warning for next time." Damon told him.

"Ahhh, so you'll be around for the next one?" Arthur asked, pointing towards the vampire with his glass.

"He better be." Alaric said, his eyes on Damon, as the other vampire turned to look at him with soft eyes.

"Ohhh for crying out loud, would you two teenagers get a room, I'm going for a drink." Arthur said as he sloped off to the bar leaving the two vampire's making eyes at each other.

Twenty minutes later, after they had gotten a glass of bourbon each and found a table in the vast room Caleb walked through the door and made a bee line for them.

"Save me! My mother keeps tearing up over how 'her little boy is growing up'.

"Sorry kid, you are on your own with that one! Something we all have to suffer through." Alaric said after a swig of bourbon. As if on cue Cassie shouted her son over, the kid just shot the pair of them a look,

"I thought you were on my side." Then he stuck his tongue out at them.

"Oh yeah because that's mature." Damon shouted after him before the pair of them dissolved into laughter. After they had sobered up Alaric heard someone say his name from behind him, turning he saw Alex, automatically he went on defensive,

"What do you want?" his words came out harsh, so much so it made Alex flinch,

"I just wanna talk." He told them, Alaric motioned from him to take a seat and he did.

"Look, I just wanna say sorry for everything I said, I know I cant take it back but I hope we can at least try to mend whatever I broke, I love you too much to lose you little brother and that matters more to me that whatever outdated ideas I might have. I hope you can forgive me too Damon." He said, addressing Damon with the last sentence. The two vampires looked at each other; they didn't need to talk to communicate,

"It's gonna take a while for me to get over what you said because it hurt me pretty bad Alex but I don't wanna lose you either so yeah, we can make a go of it." After that the brothers stood up to embrace each other then Alex shook Damon's hand and wondered off back towards Alice.

"Feel better now?" Damon asked,

"Yeah, I do, feel a lot better." Alaric replied, downing the reminder of his drink.

They all had a fantastic night; Caleb got to spend his birthday with his friends and family, Alaric got to introduce Damon to the rest of the family, the word having spread like wildfire thanks to Sarah and her texting thumbs, his cousins were very taken with the tall and handsome stranger.

When they all got back to the house later that night and the kids had gone to bed, the littlest ones practically asleep as they were carried through the door, they had a night cap in the kitchen before going their separate ways to bed.

Damon and Alaric enjoyed the last two days with Alaric's family and by the time came for them to leave on Sunday night they had been made to promise not to leave it too long before they visited again.

Caleb and Arthur drove them to the airport and waited with them while they checked it. Before they parted ways at the gates Alaric drew his brother into a hug and promised to text when they landed and while his brother embraced his boyfriend Alaric hugged Caleb who he swore was becoming more like him everyday, when they broke apart Alaric said,

"You know kid, this summer, when you have some time off you should come visit us in Mystic Falls."

"Really?

"Yeah, we would love to have you; you could meet Stefan and everyone. That's okay right Damon?"

"Yeah it would be great, I mean it's been erm, quite around town lately so it should be fine." The older vampire replied, referring to the lack of Originals trouble of late.

"Okay then! I'll see you in a couple of months." And with that and a final goodbye the two vampires headed through the gates and back towards Mystic Falls.

**Well that's all folks! End of this story but you should see the set up for the sequel and let's just say we will find out that Caleb is like Alaric in more ways that one, it only takes him meeting the one for everything to change. That one will start in about a week, after I have wrote the request I got about seeing when Damon and Ric fell in love. I want to say a final thank you to every single one of you for reading this, to all the reviews and story/author favourite's and alerts. Check out my other two Dalaric fanfics, Parent's Night and Time for Wedding. Please keep checking for the sequel and anything else I write for these guys or for any other pairings I write for that you like. **


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